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Can Thor Fly Without Mjolnir?

Comic Book Questions Answered – where I answer whatever questions you folks might have about comic books (feel free to e-mail questions to me at brianc@cbr.com).

Reader Josh S. had a question based on this week’s Secret Empire #6, which showed Odinson (formerly known as Thor) flying…

Obviously, he’s called Odinson specifically because he is unworthy of wielding Mjolnir, so Josh’s simple question was, ” is Thor capable of flight (or levitation) without Mjolnir?”

Very simple question, but the answer is not as simple.

All the way back to Jack Kirby’s time on Thor, Thor flew without Mjolnir’s help…

He did so in a fight with Storm in Contest of Champions…

And he did so during the recent Infinity crossover event a few years back…

However, during Walter Simonson’s run, he specifically had Hela note that Thor could not fly (as he was not using his hammer at the time)…

And in Jason Aaron’s current Thor run, Thor clearly cannot fly without the hammer…

Seeing as how there have been a number of examples of him flying all over the span of time, I think it is fair to say that he CAN fly without Mjolnir. So I guess the question is whether he SHOULD be able to fly without Mjolnir. I would vote for “no.” I think the character is cooler when he needs the hammer to fly.

That just isn’t how he’s been depicted over the years, so I guess I am going to have to say yes to this one, Josh.

Thanks for the question, Josh! If anyone ELSE has a question they’d like to see me address, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!